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Don’t Fear the Algorithm: The Risks and Benefits Of Machine Learning in Finance
Billions of people around the world lack access to basic financial services, and far too many promising entrepreneurs are deprived of financial opportunities simply because they don’t have a credit history. As JUMO founder and CEO Andrew Watkins-Ball sees it, this lack of access is fundamentally a technology problem – and machine learning can help solve it. But algorithm-assisted banking is not without risks: Watkins-Ball discusses its benefits and downsides, and how it's powering JUMO's work in Africa and Asia.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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M-Pesa helps drive up Kenyans’ access to financial services – study
The proportion of Kenya’s population with access to formal financial services rose to 83 percent from 75 percent in 2016, driven largely by mobile technology, a survey part-conducted by the central bank showed on Wednesday.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why Fintech Startups Are Rapidly Becoming Unicorns in Latin America
In the past few years, over 300 fintech startups have been born in Mexico alone, coming in just second to Brazil, which boasts nearly 400 startups in its own fintech sector.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Race is on for Southeast Asia ‘super app’ amid internet economy growth expectations
Southeast Asia’s internet economy is set to grow but experts say that providers must focus on building trust by showing that mobile technology can help the marginalized.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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In conversation with Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom
If WhatsApp gets into payments and comes to Kenya, what will Safaricom do? “We don’t get complacent about these things,” says Collymore. “For sure, we believe we need to evolve, and quickly. The thing that we have today was designed 11 years ago.”
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Mexico central bank says Uber, other firms interested in mobile pay system
When asked if Uber, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing firm, was one of the companies that had expressed interest, Diaz de Leon confirmed it had. But he noted that many prospective users were still trying to get to grips with how they might use CoDi.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Go-Pay sets out to ‘strengthen’ its digital wallet presence in cash-reliant Indonesia
Fintech — or financial technology, which can be broadly defined as digital innovation in financial services — has been gaining traction in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Western Union, Thunes Tie Up to Boost Digital Money Transfer
With this deal, senders can now make the most of Western Union's emerging digital network. Alternatively, they can use an agent location to transfer funds straightaway to a recipient's mobile wallet.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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